1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automobile window shades, particularly to an automobile window shade system capable of shading all windows of an automobile simultaneously.
2. Description of Prior Art
The interior of a vehicle parked outdoors in the summer sun can become extremely warm and uncomfortable for its occupants. Moreover, direct sunlight damages the upholstery, dashboards, steering wheels, seats, and other parts of the automobile interior, causing them to fade, dry out, or crack. Therefore, various window shading devices are used to protect automobile interiors from the damaging action of direct sunlight.
One of the most popular and simple types of window shading devices is an accordion-folded window blind. Such blinds, which are produced, e.g., by Auto-Shade Inc., North Hollywood, California, are made of cardboard, can be folded and unfolded, and can be stored in the trunk of an automobile. However, these blinds are designed specifically for shading only the portion of the automobile under the windshield. For this purpose these blinds have a special cutout for rearview mirrors. Furthermore, folding and unfolding the blends takes time. Besides, the cardboard can be quickly damaged and must be often replaced. During the time of the day, the sun changes position with respect to the automobile, so that its rays penetrate the automobile through unprotected side-door windows. Although the window blinds are adjustable in the horizontal direction, they have a fixed vertical dimension, which makes them inconvenient for use in automobiles of some models.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,548 issued Jul. 31, 1990 to G. Payne et al. discloses a side window shade for automobiles. The shade is formed of a plurality of pivotally connected sections which form a panel. An upper edge of the panel is configured with a curvature corresponding to an automobile side window frame and includes a plurality of spaced notches which receive suction cup retainers for insertion of suction cups attachable to an automobile side window. The device of this type also protects only side-window portion of the automobile interior. The device must be removed for driving and reinstalled for parking in a sunny place every time. Therefore it is inconvenient in use. Moreover, suction cups can be easily damaged because of frequent connection and disconnection. Since the suction cups are subject to direct sunlight, their material quickly looses elasticity, making the suction cups unsuitable for further application.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,238 issued Nov. 12, 1991 to Mauni Mohtasham describes a windshield sunshade assembly for mounting on the pivoted connector portion of the sun visor attachment of a automobile so that a shade member, which is wound into a roll, can be unwound and retracted or extended in order to cover the windshield from inside of the automobile. This device has the same disadvantages as other conventional automobile-interior shading means, i.e., it shields only the automobile interior under the windshield and does not protect the rest of the interior.
Even in the case all automobile windows are shaded separately by using conventional devices described above, it would be necessary to close and open each window shade separately which would be an inconvenient and time-consuming operation.